New Seoul: Madison’s authentic everyday Korean

August 31, 2014

Enter New Seoul and you will notice mostly East Asians dining there. The decor is simple and unassuming. The solo server/owner is efficient and not fawning. Your will hear many patrons conversing with the server in Korean. This is when you know you have come to a proper Korean restaurant.

The menu is simple. There are the usual lunch specials: affordable rice dishes meat toppings, veggie toppings, or with sweet potato noodles.

Bibimbop appears to be popular with many of the patrons. I highly recommend having this dish in a stone bowl. The stone bowl keeps the rice hot for a long time. In fact, when you’re done inhaling every single grain of rice, the stone bowl is still going to be warm to touch. The hot stone bowl also gives the rice on the bottom an interesting crustiness. Copy other Asian patrons as they poke lose the soft fried egg, stir up the whole bowl into a casserole, add squirts of hot sauce, stir some more, and add several more squirts of hot sauce, stir, and finally dig in.

Other Korean classics include galbi, bulgogi, and deep soup dishes. If you are not very hungry, choose a couple small dishes from the appetizer section or side orders. The mild dumplings soup is light and satisfying. The kimbop, fat rolled Korean style sushi, comes with 10 big pieces and is a meal in itself.

As soon as you have placed your orders, three saucer dishes of appetizers appear on your table. They are potatoes in a sweet sauce, shredded daikon, and kimchi. These sides add interesting variety to your meal.

New Seoul is moving to a new location starting the second week of September: